2012 election: Hard to say 'I was wrong'

It’s not easy, obviously, to accurately predict a presidential election. But that is, in part, what political pundits are paid handsomely to do, to gauge the nation’s mood and apply a rigorous understanding of the nation’s electoral map.

The Washington Examiner’s Michael Barone also predicted a big Romney victory and wrote, “The results are in and I was wrong when I predicted that Mitt Romney would win 315 electoral votes. For those of you who sent in nasty emails and for those who sent in reasoned arguments that I was wrong, please be assured that I will be on a diet of crow for some time.”

Republican strategist John Feehery tweeted bluntly, “Well. I was wrong. That sucks.”

On CNN, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell confessed this about his prediction of how his state could lean for Romney: “Well, obviously I was wrong.”

Readers' Comments (12)

The fact is 1/2 the country stilll doesn't support President Obama's policies and don't support his record or lack thereof... We may not have won but the country is still deeply divided because this president has led as a far left extremist....

Rhondarn62 - its fools like you who perpetuate the divisions in this country. But that's okay because pretty soon we'll have one institution that isn't divided. Wait til you see the SUPREME COURT when Obama gets his appointments! LOL! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS AND YOU ARE THE LOSERS! Na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, GOODBYE! (Yes I know I'm being juvenile and a sore winner. But hey WE WON! And you know damn well that if Romney had won, the RWNJ's would be shooting off their guns in the air.)

Actually slightly less than half disagrees with the President apparently, but we're splitting hairs. The Republican Party needs to go through the same process Democrats went through in 2002: reexamine where their party is, where the demographics are going and adapt their messaging appropriately. Conservative viewpoints are still very popular, but they are presented in that angry old white man, talk radio way that has turned off millennial generation voters and emerging minorities. The message from Day 1 should have been, the president is a nice, popular, friendly person but he's not running a Junior High Student Council, he's running the country.

Aside from a couple of speakers and the Republican National Convention, that message was tossed aside for indignation and gaffes.

Actually slightly less than half disagrees with the President apparently, but we're splitting hairs. The Republican Party needs to go through the same process Democrats went through in 2002: reexamine where their party is, where the demographics are going and adapt their messaging appropriately. Conservative viewpoints are still very popular, but they are presented in that angry old white man, talk radio way that has turned off millennial generation voters and emerging minorities. The message from Day 1 should have been, the president is a nice, popular, friendly person but he's not running a Junior High Student Council, he's running the country.

Aside from a couple of speakers and the Republican National Convention, that message was tossed aside for indignation and gaffes.

Let's hope this is the start of the GOP and its members starting to looks at facts and data when it comes to polling, climate change and other conclusions that are based in accurate information. If they'd don't they will experience this defeat in election after election after election.